Theodosia woman dies in fire

An early morning fire Jan. 5 that killed a Theodosia-area woman was caused by “smoking while on oxygen therapy,” Mike O’Connell, communications director for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, told the Times Monday.
O’Connell said the state’s Division of Fire Safety, which receives reports from state fire marshals, called the fire accidental.
Glenda Perry, 72, died of smoke inhalation in the blaze, Ozark County Coroner Shane Ledbetter said Thursday.
Her grandson, Dustin Perry, 26, who lived with her and served as her caregiver, tried to get her out of the burning home but was unsuccessful, another grandson, Steven Schmekel, of Isabella, told the Times.
“Her bedroom was at one end of the house and Dustin’s was at the other,” Schmekel said. “He had a monitor set up so he could hear her, and he heard her calling to him. She said, ‘The house is on fire!’”
O’Connell, from Missouri DPS, said the fire report indicated that “the center portion of the structure was collapsed and consumed through the floor.” Schmekel said his cousin Dustin “came through the fire to get to her and then took her back through the fire trying to get out.”
Dustin managed to get his grandmother, who was disabled, out of the bedroom and into a bathroom but was unable to get her out of the house, Schmekel said. “Knowing my grandmother, she told him to get out,” he said.
Dustin called 911 once he was outside. He was later transported by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, where he was treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns and released.
Theodosia Area Volunteer Fire Chief Tim Jeffery said when he arrived on scene the double-wide mobile home with attached roof and porch was fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters knew someone was inside, “but there was nothing we could do to get her out. It was too dangerous, too far gone,” Jeffery said.
TAVFD was dispatched at 4:53 a.m. and arrived on scene at 5:17 a.m., said information officer Teresa Orloff. Six TAVFD firefighters, including an EMT and first responders, responded with two tankers, a pumper and a brush truck and remained on scene until 10:57 a.m., she said.
Pontiac Price Place VFD chief Al Davidson said four firefighters and a medical first responder from his department responded with a tanker in mutual aid.
Schmekel said his grandmother and her husband Auttie had moved in 1993 from Wasola to their Theodosia-area home off Highway 95. Auttie Perry died in 2007. Last year a storm tore off the home’s roof and porch and totaled his grandmother’s cars, Schmekel said. Her family had rebuilt the roof and porch, including a wheelchair ramp.
(See Glenda Perry’s obituary, page 8.)

<p>Theodosia Area VFD chief Tim Jeffery and American Red Cross representative Karen McCoy (partially hidden), look over the scene of a Thursday morning fire that destroyed the home of Glenda Perry, 72, who died in the blaze.</p>

<p>Theodosia Area Volunteer firefighters work the scene of a fatal fire last week off Highway 95. Glenda Perry, 72, died in the blaze.</p>

<p>Perry was trapped inside a bathroom on the left side of the photo above. The doorway-shaped hole on that end of the home was not an exit but was cut by a family member. Emergency responders arrived to find the home fully engulfed by flames, making rescue impossible. Perry’s grandson, Dustin Perry, 26, escaped with minor burns and smoke inhalation.</p>